10 things you need to know about the Senate immigration bill# Immigration - 落地生根
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by Raul A. Reyes
1:00 am on 04/16/2013
The path to comprehensive immigration reform has never been smooth. Coming
the day before the Senate’s “Gang of 8” were to present their immigration
proposal, the tragic events in Boston may have delayed its official
announcement. It is a long-awaited proposal that Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)
called “a starting point” on Sunday’s Meet The Press. In anticipation of
its imminent unveiling, here are the major takeaways of the Senate plan.
Illegal Immigration
1. The Senate plan includes a pathway to citizenship for the undocumented
that will take 13 years. Undocumented immigrants who can prove continuous
presence in the country before December 31, 2011 will be eligible to adjust
their status. They must have clean records and pay taxes and a $500 fine, in
addition to any fees. Then they can apply for “Registered Provision
Immigrant” status.
2. People with Registered Provision Immigrant status can live and work
legally in the U.S., and travel outside the country. After 10 years, a
Registered Provision Immigrant may apply for a green card if they know
English, pay taxes, and pay a $1,000 fine. It will take an additional three
years for a green card to be converted into citizenship. However, these
provisions are all dependent upon the Department of Homeland Security
meeting their border security goals.
3. DREAMers and agricultural workers will have a shorter path to citizenship
. People who were brought illegally to the U.S as children and would
otherwise qualify for the DREAM Act can obtain green cards in five years (
and are exempted from the $500 fine). They will then be eligible for
citizenship immediately. The Senate plan also includes the AgJobs Act, which
will allow current agricultural workers to obtain legal status through the
Agricultural Card Program.
4. Some deportees will be allowed to legally re-enter the U.S. Undocumented
immigrants who were here before December 31, 2011 and were deported for non-
criminal reasons can apply to re-enter the country if they are the spouse or
a parent of a citizen or lawful permanent resident. This is good news for
many of the nearly 250,000 deportees with citizen children; they will have a
chance to reunite with their families.
Legal Immigration
5. More visas will be allocated on a merit-based system. Our current system
allows roughly two-thirds of legal immigration on the basis of family
unification, and 14 percent based on employment. Now the allotment for
employment visas for skilled workers and professionals will gradually rise.
6. The number of H1B visas will be increased. H1B visas are for workers with
college degrees or in skilled occupations. They are capped at 65,000 per
year, with an additional exemption of 20,000 for people with advanced
degrees. This has often proved inadequate to the number of applicants; the
2014 cap was reached in only 5 days. The Senate plan raises the yearly cap
to 110,000, and the advanced degree exemption to 25,000. To prevent
employers from seeking to undercut American workers, employers will be
required to pay H1B workers higher wages. Employers will face additional
scrutiny from the government in order to prevent abuse of the H1B program.
7. Family-sponsored immigration will be somewhat curtailed. Within eighteen
months of the bill’s enactment, citizens may no longer petition for visas
for their siblings. Still, clearing the existing backlog of family-based
visa petitions is a key goal of this proposal. And the existing V-visa
program will expand to cover sponsorship of single adult children and
married adult children under age 31.
8. Lower-skilled immigrant workers will be eligible for the new W-Visa. The
W- Visa will cover people working in the service sectors as well as
agriculture. Employers can petition the government to allow 20,000 such
workers beginning in 2015, with this number rising as high as 75,000 within
four years (The construction industry is limited to 15,000 workers a year).
Immigrants on W-visas can move to other employers if they choose, and will
be eligible for residency and citizenship. W-Visa immigrants may not be
hired to replace striking American workers. Once the W-Visa program is
operational, the much-maligned H2A visa program for seasonal agricultural
workers will end.
9. No more Diversity Visas. The Senate proposal will end the “Diversity
Lottery,” which allots 55,000 random visas to countries that are
underrepresented in our immigration system. But people who were selected for
the 2013 or 2014 Diversity Visas will still be eligible to receive them.
10. No immigration equality for same-sex couples. To the almost certain
disappointment of the LGBT community and their allies, the Senate plan
contains no provisions for immigration equality for same-sex couples.
1:00 am on 04/16/2013
The path to comprehensive immigration reform has never been smooth. Coming
the day before the Senate’s “Gang of 8” were to present their immigration
proposal, the tragic events in Boston may have delayed its official
announcement. It is a long-awaited proposal that Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)
called “a starting point” on Sunday’s Meet The Press. In anticipation of
its imminent unveiling, here are the major takeaways of the Senate plan.
Illegal Immigration
1. The Senate plan includes a pathway to citizenship for the undocumented
that will take 13 years. Undocumented immigrants who can prove continuous
presence in the country before December 31, 2011 will be eligible to adjust
their status. They must have clean records and pay taxes and a $500 fine, in
addition to any fees. Then they can apply for “Registered Provision
Immigrant” status.
2. People with Registered Provision Immigrant status can live and work
legally in the U.S., and travel outside the country. After 10 years, a
Registered Provision Immigrant may apply for a green card if they know
English, pay taxes, and pay a $1,000 fine. It will take an additional three
years for a green card to be converted into citizenship. However, these
provisions are all dependent upon the Department of Homeland Security
meeting their border security goals.
3. DREAMers and agricultural workers will have a shorter path to citizenship
. People who were brought illegally to the U.S as children and would
otherwise qualify for the DREAM Act can obtain green cards in five years (
and are exempted from the $500 fine). They will then be eligible for
citizenship immediately. The Senate plan also includes the AgJobs Act, which
will allow current agricultural workers to obtain legal status through the
Agricultural Card Program.
4. Some deportees will be allowed to legally re-enter the U.S. Undocumented
immigrants who were here before December 31, 2011 and were deported for non-
criminal reasons can apply to re-enter the country if they are the spouse or
a parent of a citizen or lawful permanent resident. This is good news for
many of the nearly 250,000 deportees with citizen children; they will have a
chance to reunite with their families.
Legal Immigration
5. More visas will be allocated on a merit-based system. Our current system
allows roughly two-thirds of legal immigration on the basis of family
unification, and 14 percent based on employment. Now the allotment for
employment visas for skilled workers and professionals will gradually rise.
6. The number of H1B visas will be increased. H1B visas are for workers with
college degrees or in skilled occupations. They are capped at 65,000 per
year, with an additional exemption of 20,000 for people with advanced
degrees. This has often proved inadequate to the number of applicants; the
2014 cap was reached in only 5 days. The Senate plan raises the yearly cap
to 110,000, and the advanced degree exemption to 25,000. To prevent
employers from seeking to undercut American workers, employers will be
required to pay H1B workers higher wages. Employers will face additional
scrutiny from the government in order to prevent abuse of the H1B program.
7. Family-sponsored immigration will be somewhat curtailed. Within eighteen
months of the bill’s enactment, citizens may no longer petition for visas
for their siblings. Still, clearing the existing backlog of family-based
visa petitions is a key goal of this proposal. And the existing V-visa
program will expand to cover sponsorship of single adult children and
married adult children under age 31.
8. Lower-skilled immigrant workers will be eligible for the new W-Visa. The
W- Visa will cover people working in the service sectors as well as
agriculture. Employers can petition the government to allow 20,000 such
workers beginning in 2015, with this number rising as high as 75,000 within
four years (The construction industry is limited to 15,000 workers a year).
Immigrants on W-visas can move to other employers if they choose, and will
be eligible for residency and citizenship. W-Visa immigrants may not be
hired to replace striking American workers. Once the W-Visa program is
operational, the much-maligned H2A visa program for seasonal agricultural
workers will end.
9. No more Diversity Visas. The Senate proposal will end the “Diversity
Lottery,” which allots 55,000 random visas to countries that are
underrepresented in our immigration system. But people who were selected for
the 2013 or 2014 Diversity Visas will still be eligible to receive them.
10. No immigration equality for same-sex couples. To the almost certain
disappointment of the LGBT community and their allies, the Senate plan
contains no provisions for immigration equality for same-sex couples.